Tag Archives: narrative

[4D] Interactive Narrative

Link to our proposal: https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/nura0069/interactive-storytelling-proposal/

We got feedback from Ruyi on our proposal that there were too many things going on – the strict parents, the lesbian relationship, Sarah going missing (and eventually dying), and Denise having to find out.

We also did not really portray the romantic aspect of the relationship, with Ruyi commenting that it looked more like a friendship, which we definitely agreed with. We tried to make it more romantic in our final video with an implied kiss scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aKxPyMCPgs

We also got feedback that the two characters could be different in terms of personalities, Ruyi suggesting “Blue Is The Warmest Colour” as a reference. Hence, we redeveloped the story, paying more attention to the two characters’ distinct personalities.

Blue is The Warmest Colour explores the relationship between Adele and Emma – Emma is the more free-spirited, “Artist” type. Apart from using it for the cinematic reference, we also referenced the “I Knew You Were Trouble” music video for its portrayal of Taylor’s love interest as one who is crazy and wild, whilst Taylor is the ‘good girl’ who later becomes more wild as her relationship with her love interest progresses. As we had run into problems giving Sarah and Denise more character, I referenced this video to give both of the characters more distinct personalities.

Link for revised storyline: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p4tYlgWwel4eKrRgUK1LGwqIhEXutZfBoXm8eNuxb0A/edit?usp=sharing

I did a lot of the writing, including the quotes for the jar, blog and the development of Sarah’s and Denise’s personalities. I also did up the scenes for the storyboard. I took a lot of inspiration from poetry, specifically Lang Leav’s works. The storyboarding was also pretty fun because I rewatched some Korean dramas for some ideas.

Blog link: sarahslittlesecrett.tumblr.com Password: 123

I ran into some difficulties while making the blog. I had to find a theme which did not show the post date because I was posting all of these posts on the same day, which did not make sense for the story. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be, especially because I needed the blog to look like a teenage girl’s blog. Here are some other blog themes I tried out:

1) https://valdemartheme.tumblr.com/

2) https://yeolithm-34.tumblr.com/

3) http://shinrikizuki.tumblr.com/th/14a

4) http://iceteo.tumblr.com/sehun

I tried to have a mix of word posts, poetry and picture posts to simulate a tumblr blog, as well. I also tried to have a relatively large number of posts – 28, to be exact – to make the blog seem believable, as if she had been writing in it for a long time.

Reflection:

Acting as Denise was actually pretty hard for me because I could not stop laughing. While I had acted for theater plays previously, I found it super awkward being filmed, especially for the “intimate scenes”. Ying Hui made it a lot easier on me though, because we both found kindred spirits in each other’s awkwardness.

I also learnt a lot about character development, as I came to develop the characters more after the feedback on the proposal. The character profile really helped with that, especially with research into Character Archetypes.

In hindsight, we could’ve paid more attention to details – one common feedback was that it was confusing why my name was Denise when I’m so obviously Indian. Honestly, we had initially named our characters D and SO based off what we learnt in 3D class about Dominant (D), Subdominant (SD) and Subordinate (SO), and Denise was D because she’s the more dominant one and Sarah was SO because she’s the “subordinate”.

Azizah’s post on setting up and props: https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/nura0069/interactive-storytelling-l1-201/

Ying Hui’s posts:

 

 

 

 

[4D] Final: Task 1 – Which narrative?

Earlier on, I wrote that reading “The Fairy Kitten” made me feel two ways: comfortable and yet also transported into a magical world. Hence, I explored both narratives by doing two shoots. However, the time came for me to decide between the two, and I made a rubric for myself to finalize on the narrative I wanted to submit.

These are my three chosen pictures from both the narratives.

“Comfort” narrative:

“Magic” narrative:

Criteria:

Criteria “Comfort” (1-10) “Magic” (1-10)
Cohesiveness 7 5
Aesthetic qualities 7 6
Successful in expressing narrative 7 6
Visually exciting framing/angles 6 7

Upon closer analysis, I found that going with the “Comfort” narrative was a better choice. Even though the “Magic” narrative took more effort with the props and took a longer time, I felt that I relied on the background too much for the narrative, compared to the “Comfort” narrative where I could express the meaning with clarity although it didn’t have as many props.

 Final images chosen + write up

Something that is always cozy and I’ve been doing the longest time is reading.

I love reading. I love curling up in my bed with “The Fairy Kitten” by Enid Blyton, especially – as the first Enid Blyton book I bought, it gives me a lot of warm fuzzy feelings. The day I got it at a book fair, even though I came back from school exhausted, I didn’t take my usual afternoon nap because I couldn’t wait to start.  I remember falling asleep on it because I could not stop reading. I still fall asleep whenever I take it out and read it – it’s almost become a habit, the way my body tells me that “Hey, this is familiar, and easy, and it’s okay to fall sleep if you don’t want to stop”.

That’s the sense of comfort I aim to portray with this series. I hope that the framing pulls the viewer into the image, like you’re there with me – I feel that the angles are really unoffending and friendly, almost. I chose these three photographs as I felt that they told the story of what I feel and do when I read “The Fairy Kitten” – the story draws me in at first, then I get comfortable reading it, then (I get too comfortable) and fall asleep reading it.

I used subtle compositional techniques, such as the pyramid in the first image, the leading lines (with the placement of the blankets) leading to the subject in the second image, and the rule of thirds in the third image.

I used warm, pinkish tones overall to convey a sense of nostalgia as well, hoping that the viewer will also be taken back to times when they felt happy and serene with a good book in hand. Thank you for coming on this journey with me for this task!